PREHISTORY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does prehistory mean? 

• PREHISTORY (noun)
  The noun PREHISTORY has 1 sense:

1. the time during the development of human culture before the appearance of the written word

  Familiarity information: PREHISTORY used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PREHISTORY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The time during the development of human culture before the appearance of the written word

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

prehistoric culture; prehistory

Hypernyms ("prehistory" is a kind of...):

period; period of time; time period (an amount of time)

Meronyms (parts of "prehistory"):

Bronze Age ((archeology) a period between the Stone and Iron Ages, characterized by the manufacture and use of bronze tools and weapons)

Iron Age ((archeology) the period following the Bronze Age; characterized by rapid spread of iron tools and weapons)

Stone Age ((archeology) the earliest known period of human culture, characterized by the use of stone implements)

glacial epoch; glacial period; ice age (any period of time during which glaciers covered a large part of the earth's surface)

Derivation:

prehistoric (belonging to or existing in times before recorded history)

prehistoric (of or relating to times before written history)

 Context examples 

It is highly unlikely, in my view, that these resources were of major importance in locating ahu during prehistory.

(Scientists report correlation between locations of Easter Island statues and water resources, Wikinews)